Machine for shaving printers  leads



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. F. WELLMAN.

MACHINE FOR SHAVING PRINTERS LEADS.

Patented Sept. 7, 188.6.

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lllimlllINNIIIIHIIIWIIIIII I llllllllllllmmr (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. I. WELLMAN.

MAGHI NE FOR SHAVING PRINTERS LEADS.

Patented Sept. 7, 1886.

al F1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY F. IVELLMAN, OF ENGLFHVOOD, ASSIGNOR TO THE SOHNEIDEVEND & LEE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR SHAVING PRINTERS LEADS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,804, dated September 7, 1886.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. XVELLMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Englewood, county of Cook, and State oflllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Shaving Printers Leads, Slugs, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lo machines for shaving printers leads, slugs, &c., in which these articles in their east and uneven condition are delivered to the knives for shaving through a suitable guide-recess, but is more particularly designed as an im- 1 5 provemcnt on United States Letters Patent No. 314,384, granted \V. F. Klose,March 24,1885. As shown and described in this patent, there is a rigid connection between the blocks D and E, forming the top and bottom of the groove or recess through which the leads pass, thereby forming a rigid guideway for the said lcads,of a fixed and nnvarying depth, which construction practice has demonstrated is objectionable, for the reason that the said passage frequcntl y becomes so obstructed as to render the stopping of the work necessary, in consequence of thejamming or wedging in the said groove of leads of too great a thickness to pass through the groove, and thereby necessitating the removal of the block E,in order to dislodge the obstruction. The removal of this block not only occasions a great loss of time and la bor; but a still more serious objection arises, due to the fact that in removing this block the upper shavingknife attached thereto is necessarily moved out of adjustment, and the readjustment of this knife requires the expenditure of no small amount of time and skill, and the most expert operator will lose several hours, and sometimes as much as a full day, in obtaining a perfect readjustment. Again, when a lead of a less thickness than the depth of a groove or recess is fed to thcknives, the result is frequently such an uneven shav- 5 mg of the lead, due to its wabbling and buckling while being forced along through said groove,as to render it practically useless,and necessitating its remclting and casting; hence it will be seen that all these evils are a necessary consequence of the rigid and therefore objectionable construction of the guide groove or recess, as previously set forth.

The prime object of this invention is to have a yielding guideway for the leads, so constructed as to adapt itself to the varying thicknesses of leads, slugs, &c., while at all times forming a perfect guideway for the said leads, whereby the jamming and wcdging of leads in said groove arc obviated.

Another object is to provide a stationary 6c support for the knives when set, disconnected from and independent of the yielding guideway, whereby the yielding block of said guideway may be removed without disturbing orin anywisc interfering wit-h the shaving-knives.

Further objects are to provide a yielding guid eway for the leads, automatically and vertical] y adjustable, consisting of two blocks located one above the other, having a springcushion or yielding connection between them, and adapted to form suitable guides and supports for the lead-actuating mechanism of the machine, and to provide certain details of construction essential to the proper carrying out of my invention, and hereinafter fully de- 7 5 scribed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a lead-shaving machine with my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2, an enlarged detail side elevation of my yielding guideway; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail transverse vertical section on linea: m, Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 an enlarged detail central vertical scctiontln'ongh the guide way and knife-supporting block.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The general construction and operation of the machine herein illustrated, with the exception of my improved guideway, are exactly similar in all respects to those shown and described in the aforesaid Letters Patent, and even the position and function of my guide way are the same; hence I do not deem any description of this prior construction necessary, except so far as any of the parts thereof may relate to or combine with my invention, of which the following is a detail description.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates an oblong block or cast- :00

ing of suitable dimensions to correspond with and be attached to the bed 13 of the ma chine, to which it is rigidly secured. This block is slotted, as shown at a, to form a guideway for a reciprocating slide-block, 0, provided with a tongue, I), forming its guide, and fitting into a suitable recess formed in the bottom of the slot, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3; but the preferred construction of this block is that shown in Fig. 2, in which the part A thereof is separated ,from the upper part, A on the line d d, in order that the working-faces of the slot a may be planed separately, to insure the true and accurate working of the reciprocating slide-block C. At the rear end of the said block A, and mounted thereon, is a headblock, l), carrying the side and upper shaving-knives, E and F, of the same or similar construction to that previously shown, or any other that would perform the required work, and in the block A, opposing and working in conjunction with the upper cutter, is located the lower cutter, G, preferably exactly similar in construction and operation to the said upper cutter. This head-bloek is made vertically adjustable, for

. the purpose of varying the thickness of the shaved or completed leads, by means of the slot ein a depending arm, f, of said head-block, through which works a suitable setscrew, g, engaging the block A; and it is obvious that any adjustment of the head-block, carrying with it the cutter, will necessarily increase or diminish the distance between the cuttingedges of the knives and the depth of the groove through which the completed leads are delivered; and Imay here add that this adjustment is more especially designed for use inthe latter connection, for the shaving-knives, it will be remembered, have an adjustment entirely independent, of either the head-block or the block A. Mounted on the said block A, forward ,of the head-block and totally disconnected therefrom, is another oblong block, H, extending from its point of conjunction with the head-block to the forward end of the said block A, to which it is adjustably connected at this point by means of a set-screw, 71, work ing through a vertically-elongated slot, i, in an arm,j, depending from and cast with, or otherwise rigidly secured to, the forward end of the block H. Such a connection as just described, while it permits avertieal adjustment of thesaid block H, at the same time effectually prevents any lateral movement thereof or the accidental unseating of said block, and acts as a valuable auxiliary in relieving from strain the other connections between these two blocks, the construction and operation of which are now to be described.

The upper face of the block H, at the points 7t 7t, Figs. 2 and 3, has vertical circular recesses bored therein, of a depth extending nearly through the block, and of a diameter to receive and permitthe vertical movement of set-screws Z and spiral springs m, which latter are coiled about the shank of the screw, and have a bearing or seat on the under side of the head there of. The shanks of the screws pass freely through openings in the bottom thereof, and engage suitable screw-threaded sockets, a, provided in the upper surface of the block A, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, from which construction it will be seen that the spiral springs m are confined between the bottom of the recesses k and the heads of the screws 7,- and in consequence thereof the tension of said springs will be exerted downwardly to depress the block 11 toward the block A.

As before described, the blocks A and II form the top and bottom of the groove 0, through which the leads pass, and are both slotted vertically a distance sufficient to per mit the reciprocations of the grip-carriage for gripping and pushing forward the leads to the knives, consisting of the sliding blocks 0 and I, through which slots project and work the gripper-jaws p p,- but as the construction and operation of these jaws, and, in fact, of the entire gripper-carriage, are identical with those shown and described in said United States Letters Patent No. 314,384, to Klose; it is not necessary to describe these parts herein.

7 In practice the leads or slugs to be shaved are molded in strips about eighteen inches in length, and of a thickness corresponding to theleads, slugs, or other printers furniture for which they are intended to be used. About fifty of these leads are placed on a suitable automatic feed-table, (shown in Fig. 1 as at taehed to the forward end of the machine,) which leads are previously measured in bulk to find the thickness of the entire number combined, in order to determine the amount of shaving necessary on each individual strip, so that the combined thickness of the strip when shaved will equal the thickness of a corresponding number of leads or slugs when ready for use. To produce the desired result it is obvious that great skill and accuracy are necessarily employed in setting the knives at the desired point, for only the thinnest of shavings need be removed from each of the strips to aggregate the required thickness, and it frequently involves the outlay of hours of time to obtain the necessary accuracy; hence it is all important that when once the knives are set nothing should occur which would necessitate the removal and eonsequently the readjustment of these knives; but in the previous construction in which a rigid guideway for the leadsis employed, such aecidents are of frequent occurrence.

Owing to the necessarily varied thicknesses of the leads when cast, and the fixed guideway through which they pass, frequent choking or stoppage of this guideway occurs as a result of the forcing therein of leads' of a thickness too great to pass freely through the guideway, which of course necessitates the re moval of the block forming the upper part of the guideway, in order to gain access to and remove the obstruction from the said guide- Way; and as in this prior construction the upper knife or cutter is secured to this removable block the knives are necessarily removed, therewith. Asa consequence of such removal the knives must be readjusted thereafter in all cases, thus necessitating a great loss of valuable time and skill.

In addition to the foregoing objections there is another equallyimportantand that is, in cases where the leads to be shaved are of enough less thickness than the depth of the guideway to run too freely therethrough, in consequence of which these leads will be fed to the knives with an unsteady movement, productive of buckling of the leads and a conseqnent unevenness thereof when shaved, there by rendering them unfit for use.

By the employment of my invention all these objections are overcome, for my yielding guideway will readily adapt itself to any unevenness, irregularity, or difference of thickness in different parts of the same lead strip, or of any number of different strips, the yielding connection between the two parts forming the guideway being held normally at the minimum thickness, but readily and easily adapted to expand from and return to that position when so actuated, and it will be observed that the tension or power of the spring forming a part of this yielding connection may be increased or decreased at will by manipulating the screw between the head of which and the bottom of the socket the said spring is confined; but even should the guideway become so obstructed as to necessitate the removal of the top block thereof, by reason of its being entirely disconnected from the head-block carrying the upper cutter, the said block may be readily removed without in anywise disturbing the adjustment of the cutter or knife.

I do not limit myself to the exact form or construction of the yielding connection herein shown and described, for various forms of mechanical devices may be employed and effect the same result, and would, therefore, be no departure from the spirit of my invention,

which consists, broadly, of a yielding guideway for the leads; and whether this yielding occurs in either the upper or lower parts of the guideway or between portions of either part thereof is not material.

Having described my i nventi0n,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for shaving printers leads, a yielding guideway for said lead between the feed and the shaving'knives thereof, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for shaving printers leads, the upper and lower blocks and a recess or guideway between and formed by said blocks, in combination with a yielding connection between said blocks, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for shaving printers leads, the upper and lower blocks,A and H, having a guidcway therebetween formed by their juxtaposition, in combination with a screw. working freely through said upper block, the shank thereof engaging the lower block, and an elastic cushion between said screw and the upper block, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for shaving printers leads,

the lower block carrying the under cutter or knife and the head-block mounted thereon, carrying the upper knife or cutter, in combination with the upper block mounted on said lower block forward of and disconnected from the said head-block, substantial] y as described.

5. In a machine for shavingprinters leads, the lower block carrying the under cutter or knife and the head-block mounted thereon, carrying the upper knife or cutter, in combination with the upper block mounted on said lower block forward of and disconnected from the said head-block, and a yielding connection between said upper and lower block, substantially as described.

HENRY F. \VELLMAN.

Vitnesses.

ILL R. OMOHUNDRO, JNo. G. ELLIOTT. 

